Field Hockey

No. 2 Wake Forest Strikes Early To Surge Past No. 12 James Madison

HARRISONBURG, Va., Sept. 6, 2009 - Wake Forest struck for three first-half goals and went on to defeat James Madison 3-1 in a top 20 field hockey matchup on Sunday afternoon at the JMU Field Hockey Complex.

WFU, ranked second in the Kookaburra/National Field Hockey Coaches Association preseason poll, improved to 3-1 on the season while 12th-ranked JMU fell to 2-1. In its last 31 matches, JMU has just five losses, all to opponents from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Hilary Moore, Melissa Martin, and Lizzie Rae each collected goals for the Demon Deacons. JMU's only score came in the second half from senior forward Meghan Bain (Berlin, N.J./Eastern Regional).

Senior goalkeeper Kelsey Cutchins (Suffolk, Va./Lakeland) posted nine saves. Kaitlyn Ruhf had three stops in 65 minutes in goal for WFU. The Demon Deacons led in shots 21-9 while the teams tied in penalty corners 4-4.

JMU had an opportunity to strike first when junior Becky Hilgar (Barto, Pa./Upper Perkiomen Valley) received a long pass on the right sideline five minutes in and charged toward the keeper for an uncontested shot. She was taken down inside the circle to draw the penalty shot. Wake switched keepers from starter Julia Young to Ruhf, who was able to save junior Dolores de Rooij's (Vlaardingen, The Netherlands/Erasmiaans) attempt.

Wake responded quickly just one minute later with a drive down the field. Moore received the ball on the left baseline and fired toward the cage with the ball caroming in for the first score of the game.

That score held until 10 minutes remaining in the first period when Kim Romansky passed across the cage from the right baseline. Rae was there at the left post to redirect it into the left corner of the cage for a 2-0 lead.

The Demon Deacons struck again just moments later as they were awarded a penalty corner. Lauren Greenwald fired from the top of the circle towards the left side of the goal. Martin knocked the pass into the left side of the cage for a 3-0 Wake lead at the half.

JMU finally put its first score on the board five minutes into the second half. Off a penalty corner, de Rooij sent a soft pass from the middle of the circle to the right post where Bain pushed it in for her first goal of the season and de Rooij's first assist.

JMU will be on the road in New York next weekend, facing Massachusetts in a match at Albany on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The Dukes and Great Danes then square off on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.